What She Means to Me
by Texascowgirl-13
Summary: After Ichigo carelessly hurt Rukia's feelings she jumps out his window and, in her soul form, ran to the far edge of Karakura Town where she encounters an extremely powerful hollow that attacks her with bankai. Can Ichigo get to her before she falls?
1. Chapter 1

****

a/n:

**Hey yall! This is an Ichigo/Rukia fic dedicated to bleachfan 16 for being such an awesome reviewer to my other stories and an avid fan of the Ichi/Ruki pairing. It was going to be a one-shot but I just got on a roll so it's now gonna be a two-shot. That is unless my awesome reviewers tell me that I should continue! ...Many attacks are said in Japanese so I put the translation in parentheses and bold beside the words. For the few japanese words that do not have a translation beside them, I will have a key at the bottom of the page so that you can go check it out... Anyways, ejoy and ON TO THE CHAPPIE!!!**

**"Speech"**

**_'Thoughts'_**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BLEACH! STUPID KUBO TITE AND HIS NOT PUTTING ICHIGO AND RUKIA TOGETHER! DARN YOU!!! **

* * *

Chapter 1

It was a normal day in the Kurosaki household. After a dinner plagued by his father's insistent nagging and random attacks Ichigo was in a bad mood. Grumbling about "crazy old men" Ichigo made his way up to his room with Rukia walking behind him with an amused smirk on her face. After they entered Ichigo's room and he'd shut the door Rukia voiced her opinion.

"You know your father's really not that bad. Actually, I think he's very amusing."

Ichigo sent her a dark look that showed he didn't appreciate her last comment at all.

"Shut up Rukia. You only say that because none of his stupidity is directed towards you," Ichigo said as he sat down at his desk to work on some homework he'd yet to finish.

Rukia, who was none to pleased about being told to shut up, crossed her arms in an angry fashion and glared at the orange haired teen.

"What do you know Ichigo? You're very lucky to have a father that loves you so much," Rukia said as a hint of pain flashed across her violet eyes, but vanished before Ichigo could notice.

"You call getting attacked everyday lucky?" Ichigo scoffed as he became angry as well, "You have no idea Rukia!"

The room suddenly became very quiet and Ichigo realized that he'd said the wrong thing. Rukia now had her head tilted slightly downward so that her eyes were shaded from the dim light of Ichigo's desk lamp and the darkness of the night hid her pain.

"You're right Ichigo. I don't."

With that, the dark haired woman swiftly jumped out of his window, ignoring his calls to wait, and fled into the night.

'_Look what you did now you idiot,'_ Ichigo thought, angry at himself, _'why would you bring up the fact that she has no family? Stupid!'_

Deciding that she needed some alone time after the harsh thing he'd just said to her, Ichigo turned back to his homework and sighed.

'_When she comes back I'll apologize,'_ Ichigo thought as he picked up his pencil and began his math assignment, _'I'm sorry Rukia.'_

* * *

Rukia had run a short distance before popping a gikongan into her mouth and instructing Chappie to go to Urahara's shop and wait for her there. In her soul form she could travel much faster using shunpo, and it would help her run off some steam.

'_Stupid Ichigo!'_ she thought angrily as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, _'Why would you say something like that? I'm well aware that I have no father.'_

A single tear made its' way down her check before she caught herself and quickly wiped it away. Tears are a sign of weakness, as her brother had told her many times.

She had just reached the far edge of Karakura Town and was turning back towards Ichigo's house when she suddenly felt a strong Hollow's reiatsu that surrounded her and seemed to be trying to crush her. She was slightly put off by the onslaught of reiatsu but quickly countered by flaring her own reiatsu enough to negate the crushing effect.

"Well, well, well," a voice said from above her, "Looks like you are stronger than I first thought shinigami."

Rukia's head snapped in the direction of the voice as her hand quickly flew to Sode no Shirayuki's hilt.

The hollow that had attacked her with its' reiatsu was of human from with long black hair and piercing black eyes. He wore a black kimono, similar to that of shinigami's shihaksho, but the sleeves had been ripped from the seams and the obi was a crimson red. His mask was completely black and covered just the bottom half of his face, from the bridge of his nose and down his neck until it vanished beneath the collar of his kimono. The markings on his mask were the same crimson red as his obi and formed a malicious grin with elongated fangs. From the looks of him, as well as his powerful reiatsu, he was not going to be easy to defeat despite the fact that she had recently attained bankai.

"My name is unimportant, however you shall remember the name of my sword and fear it for every second of the last few moments of your life," the hollow said icily while drawing his zanpakto, "Mantanza, Muerte" **(Slaughter, Muerte)**

With the release of his zanpakto, a shockwave of red reiatsu flew through the surrounding area and destroyed two of the closest warehouses.

'_Shit,' _thought Rukia as she blocked the reiatsu that had come her way with her still sealed zanpakto, _'At least we're in a warehouse district so that the chance of human casualties is minimal.'_

Wasting no more time, Rukia released her sword as well.

"Mae, Sode no Shirayuki." **(Dance, Sode no Shirayuki)**

The blade's released form turned a pristine white and a long white ribbon seemed to grow from the hilt. Rukia took a fighting stance and readied herself for the hollow's first attack; she expected that he would boast some, as was common with most hollow, but she wanted to be ready.

The hollow, however, did not say another word as he disappeared and reappeared behind her, swinging his scythe-like blade towards her unprotected back. Rukia spun and neatly block his attack and countered with a horizontal sweep of her own. The hollow, she decided to refer to as Muerte since that was the name of his zanpakto, jumped back and avoided her attack easily.

"You truly are stronger than I anticipated shinigami. Most of your pathetic kind would have been killed by that blow," Muerte said as he shifted his grip on his scythe's long shaft, "From now on I shall fight you seriously."

The next instant Rukia was blocking yet another attack from behind but instead of stopping, Muerte continued his assault with quick, vicious slashes that were slowly breaking through Rukia's defenses. When she managed to knock him back a few steps Rukia immediately took the chance to send one of her own attacks his way.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!" **(The Next Dance, White Ripple)**

A large wave of ice slashed forth from the white sword and crashed down on the hollow like a tsunami. A shocked look appeared on the petite shinigami's face as Muerte slashed through her ice with his scythe as if it were child's play.

'_There's no way he could have blocked that entirely! My Hakuren has gotten much stronger since I trained with Shirayuki to obtain bankai,' _Rukia thought as she wearily watched the hollow walk towards her.

"That was a highly powerful attack shinigami; you have earned my respect. I would like to know the name of the first shinigami that has landed a hit on me," Muerte said as he motioned towards a small gash on his left arm.

'_That's all that my attack did to him?'_ Rukia thought, bewildered, though her outward appearance remained calm and collected.

"Rukia Kuchiki: Vice Captain of the Thirteenth Division and temporary liaison to Karakura Town," she replied to the hollow's inquiry.

"So I was correct, you are a powerful shinigami," Muerte said as he stopped a short distance in front of her and repositioned his hands on the long shaft of his zanpakto for the second time, "Vice captain, huh? Well I guess I'll get to have some fun after all…Bankai!"

Muerte's sudden bankai transformation shocked Rukia completely. The hollow armor that now covered the majority of his body was pitch black with crimson accents. The only body parts that weren't covered in the black armor were his arms and top half of his face, and the crimson markings ran together to form the bloody outline of a skeleton on the outside of his black armor.

'_This hollow has achieved bankai?!' _Rukia thought worriedly, _'I didn't think there were any hollows with this much power left after Aizen's defeat.'_

She realized that she would be no match for Muerte without her own bankai and readied Shirayuki for the transformation. Before she could gather enough reiatsu however, the hollow threw his now small scythe at her still form, holding on to the long crimson chain that had formed when the shaft had shrunken for bankai, and caught her off guard.

The now compact weapon sliced through her left shoulder painfully, sending her sliding backwards and crashing into a warehouse wall. The wall was left with a large, jagged hole that the tiny shinigami had made when she'd crashed through it. Muerte smirked as he started walking towards the rubble, intent on finishing off the shinigami that he assumed was near death from his attack and the violent collision with the thick, bricked wall.

Before he could get close, however, there was a large explosion of white reiatsu and a loud call of "Bankai!" from the area that Rukia had been thrown.

Muerte, who'd leapt back to avoid the reiatsu blast and flying bricks from the wall, peered through the dust to see the dark haired shinigami that he'd blasted through the wall was now clad in a sleeveless, more form fitting version of her former shihaksho with a silver obi and tomoeri. Her bare arms were covered, however, by the long sleeves of the silver robe that flowed down to just above her ankles and had what looked like a faint outline of white snowflakes running along the bottom edge.

The wound she'd received from his scythe while in shikai form was still visible through the hole that had formed in her robe, accompanying her transformation. Muerte could also see that her impact with the wall had left its' mark on her as well as a large line of blood could be seen making it's way down her face and crossing her left eye before vanishing into her black hair.

"I'm impressed. I did not expect you to be able to achieve bankai in such a state Kuchiki-san," Muerte said with a malicious smirk, "However, you shall be in a much worse state when I get done with you."

With those last words he launched himself towards her battered form as Rukia brought up Sode no Shirayuki's bankai form, now equipped with a beautiful silver hilt and silver snowflakes delicately placed on the long white sleeve as if they'd fallen there from the clouds, to block his attack.

"I will not be taken down so easily," Rukia growled as she brought her sword up horizontally in front of her, "Some no Enbu, Aisu Shouheki!" **(First Waltz, Ice Barrier)**

Her first waltz created a thick barrier of hardened ice between Rukia and her attacker. Muerte, who had not been expecting a defensive attack, slammed hard against the ice barrier before regaining his footing and stepping back to asses the wall of ice. Rukia smirked slightly and took advantage of the hollow's current lack of concentration.

"Kujiku! Tsugi no Enbu, Shiruba Shikon!" **(Shatter! Second Waltz, Silver Fangs!)**

At her command the wall of ice shattered into millions of sharp pieces and flew towards Muerte, who had obviously not anticipated a defensive attack to so easily change into an offensive. The black clad hollow tried to avoid the projectiles but was unsuccessful and ended up with his body riddled with the icy daggers that had managed to penetrate his armor and imbed themselves into his skin.

"You'll pay for that!" Muerte yelled as the amount of reiatsu he was emanating suddenly doubled and Rukia was pushed back a few feet by its' force.

'_This is not good,'_ Rukia thought as she readied herself for another assault that was sure to be even more powerful than the last.

* * *

**Translations:**

**Gikongon- the pill that Rukia swallows to remove her soul from her Gigai(faux body)**

**Shunpo- also known as flash stepping, used by soul reapers to move quickly from place to place and also as a weapon in battle**

**Reiatsu- spirit power **

**Sode no Shirayuku- Rukia's zanpakto that literally means "sleeve of white snow"**

**Shikaksho- soul reaper's uniform**

**Mantanza- Muerte's release word for his zanpakto, is actually spanish since I wanted the hollow's release to be different from the shinigami's, means "slaughter"**

**Muerte- the name of the hollow's zanpakto, also in spanish, and literally means "death"**

**Tomoeri- japanese for over collar which is the three inch wide piece of material that you see on the shihaksho and other japanese kimonos**

**(Rukia's attacks)**

**----Shikai----**

**Some no Mai, Tsukishiro- First Dance, White Moon**

**Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren- The Next Dance, White Ripple**

**San no Mai, Shirafune- The Third Dance, White Sword(not used)**

**----Bankai----**

**Some no Enbu, Aisu Shouheki- First Waltz, Ice Barrier**

**Tsugi no Enbu, Shiruba Shikon- Second Waltz, Silver Fangs**

**San no Enbu, Shiroteikiatsu- Third Waltz, White Cyclone(not used)**

**

* * *

**

**a/n: Soooo? Good, bad, ugly? Did the translations help yall? Cuz I spent a lot of time on translations alone and I hope I made Rukia a fairly decent bankai since she doesn't have one as far as I know. I tried to model her bankai attacks after her shikai ones, just alot more powerful and deadly so I hope I didn't mess up too bad. Improving on the most beautiful zanpakto in Soul Society was not an easy thing to attempt after all. ^.^ Well chappie 2(and the last chappie unless I have some reviews telling me to continue) will be up as soon as I can get it typed. It's written down in a notebook since I didn't have my computer last night and I had to work today but I'll get it up ASAP.**

**PLZ READ AND REVIEW!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: Hey yall! Here's chappie 2! Once again I have the english translation in bold and will have a key at the bottom. This will probably be the last chapter of this two-shot so if you do think I should continue please review and let me know what you think! Anywayz, ON TO THE CHAPPIE!!!**

**"Speech"**

**_'Thoughts'_**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BLEACH BUT IF I DID THERE WOULD SURE BE ALOT OF CHANGES! CURSE YOU KUBO TITE FOR OWNING THE COPYRIGHT TO BLEACH!!!**

* * *

Chapter 2

Ichigo had been waiting for Rukia to return for an hour and a half. After finishing all his homework for the next few days he was left with nothing to do but sit and contemplate the reason that Rukia was not safely sleeping in his closet at that very moment.

"_**You call getting attacked everyday lucky? You have no idea Rukia!"**_

'_Why do I always say things that I don't mean?' _Ichigo thought as the image of Rukia's pain filled expression as she'd fled the room entered his mind.

His thoughts of self-loathing were shattered however, when he suddenly felt an explosion of incredibly powerful hollow reiatsu.

'That's captain level reiatsu! That feels like a bankai!' Ichigo thought worriedly as he grabbed Kon's gikongan from his desk drawer where he'd thrown it after the lion plushy had annoyed him into removing it from it's fuzzy body.

Popping the round pill into his mouth, Ichigo quickly swallowed and felt as his soul separated from his body. Not waiting to listen to Kon's angry yells Ichigo jumped out of the window and started shunpoing towards the source of the amazingly strong hollow reiatsu.

He was only a block away from his house when a second bankai level reiatsu assaulted his senses. He recognized it immediately and his eyes widened in horror.

"Rukia!"

He immediately drew Zangetsu and, while running, yelled "Bankai!" His transformation left him in his usual black bankai robes and gave him the extra speed that he needed.

'_Shit Rukia, hold on!' _Ichigo thought desperately as he flew towards the battle at blinding speeds.

His eyes widened as he felt Rukia release her most powerful bankai attack.

'She's using San no Enbu, Shiroteikaitsu** (Third Waltz, White Cyclone)**! If she's using that attack then she doesn't have another option,' Ichigo thought as he pushed his body to try to gain more speed.

His heart nearly stopped, however, when he felt Rukia's reiatsu suddenly drop to a dangerously low level and he still miles away.

"No!" he yelled as he drew his hand across his face and pulled on his hollow mask to supplement his speed even more.

Now he was moving so quickly that his feet were barely touching the buildings that he was jumping atop. Even then, though, Ichigo didn't think he was getting to her fast enough.

'_She's hurt badly. I can feel it. Her reiatsu's so low…'_ Ichigo thought as a sick feeling settled itself in his stomach.

When the battle scene finally came into his sight Ichigo was mortified to see a black armored hollow slashing Rukia repeatedly with a black bladed scythe; Rukia only barely blocking with Shirayuki and it was quite apparent that her body was starting to fail her. Pushing himself for one last burst of speed Ichigo slid to a halt between Rukia and her attacker, blicking the vicious blows with Tensa Zangetsu's thin, black blade.

Ichigo harshly threw the already badly injured hollow back and sent a powerful black Getsuga Tensho at him. Knowing that he hadn't killed the hollow, but seeing that he'd bought himself a moment with that attack, Ichigo immediately turned towards Rukia who's silver bankai robes were slashed to pieces and covered in blood.

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled as he suddenly appeared at her side and carefully took her into his arms, "Talk to me Rukia! Don't you dare give up on me now! Not after everything we've been through!"

The bloody and badly injured shinigami obliged and slowly opened her weary violet eyes to gaze upon her savior who was still wearing his white and red hollow mask; his concern for her evident even in his hollow-ized golden eyes.

"I-I'm fine I-Ichigo," Rukia choked out before coughing up a small amount of blood.

"Just hold on Rukia. I'm going to get you some help as soon as I slaughter the bastard who did this to you," Ichigo said as he took note of the hollow's recovery from his previous attack.

"B-Be caref-ful," Rukia said as Ichigo gently lay her back down.

"Idiot. You're worried about me getting hurt? Look at you!" Ichigo scolded as he stood.

Turning, Ichigo looked at the hollow that had now managed to regain his footing, however unsteady due to his injuries, and the orange haired shinigami glared angrily at the bastard that had hurt Rukia.

'_I'll make this quick,'_ Ichigo thought as he wasted no time in talking, _'Rukia won't last much longer. I have to hurry; but that doesn't mean this bastard isn't going to pay.'_

Ichigo used his Vizard speed to attack Muerte from every angle, seemingly simultaneously. The hollow blocked some of the attacks but was ultimately being cut to pieces by the male shinigami's attacks. Muerte managed to push Ichigo away for a moment and harshly yelled at the shinigami that seemed to be radiating a powerful hollow reiatsu as well as a shinigami one.

"What ARE you?!"

"Ichigo Kurosaki: substitute shinigami, Vizard, and the last person you'll ever see."

With that said, Ichigo drew Tensa Zangetsu back and, slicing forward, released an enormous moon fang of black and blue reiatsu that consumed the hollow and erased his body from the face of the Earth. Seeing that his opponent had been defeated, Ichigo disappeared only to reappear next to Rukia and carefully take her into his arms.

"Hang on Rukia. Just a little longer," Ichigo said as he sped back towards the house of Orihime Inoue, the one person that could heal wounds of this extent.

Making it there in record time Ichigo was relieved to find Orihime waiting for him at her door.

"Kurosaki-kun! I felt Kuchiki-san's reiatsu drop. Bring her in quickly,"

Orihime said as she moved aside to allow Ichigo to enter her apartment.

By now Rukia's silver robe was completely covered in her blood with only a few silver patches able to be seen on the clothing. Orihime quickly called forth her Shun Shun Rikka and put a healing barrier over Rukia.

Ichigo stood behind the deeply focusing girl and watched carefully as Rukia's serious wounds slowly healed and then vanished under the power of Orihime's rejection. When all of her wounds had healed Orihime dropped the barrier and settled back onto the floor tiredly.

"Kuchiki-san will be fine Kurosaki-kun. Her wounds have all been healed but the blood loss she suffered has drained most of her energy. She should wake up sometime in the early morning."

For the first time since he'd entered the apartment Ichigo took his eyes off of the petite, violet-eyed shinigami and glanced quickly at Orihime.

"Thank you Inoue. I'm going to take her home now."

Ichigo moved forward and gathered Rukia into his arms yet again before thanking Orihime one last time and exiting her apartment. Using shunpo to arrive home swiftly he entered his room through the wall and lay Rukia down on his bed, where Chappie was lying asleep in Rukia's gigai, and watched as her soul fused with her body.

"She came while you were gone Ichigo. Said she could fell Rukia was in trouble and came to get you," Kon said sedately as he stood behind a very solemn Ichigo.

Ichigo merely nodded before entering his body and putting Kon's gikongan back in its' former position in the drawer. Grabbing his desk chair, Ichigo drew it up beside his bed and settled himself in for a night of worriedly watching Rukia's unconscious form.

'_This is my fault,'_ Ichigo thought as he held the hand of the unconscious woman, _'If I hadn't said those things to her then she wouldn't have run off on her own.'_

"H-Hey. What's that pathetic look on your face for I-Ichigo?"

Rukia's voice broke through his thoughts and immediately drew his attention to her face. She was wearily smirking at him with her eyes on their intertwined fingers.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were worried about me Ichigo."

For a moment he thought about falling back into their usual playful banter, but the image of Rukia's near death form told him that he could not wait any longer to tell her how he felt; what would happen if one of them were to die without knowing how the other felt?

"Of course I was worried Rukia! I care about you a lot," Ichigo said as he carefully watched the shock register on her face.

"I-Ichigo, I-I…"

"I was so afraid Rukia," he said in a soft voice, " I thought I was going to loose you. I thought I was going to loose you without telling you how I feel about you."

Rukia's shocked face had fallen and she now wore a peaceful expression. Her eyes were soft as she looked at the orange haired man who'd somehow stolen her heart.

"Ichigo."

"I…I love you Rukia," Ichigo said as he peered deeply into her violet eyes, as if his heart was calling out for hers to answer.

"Oh, Ichigo. I was so afraid you wouldn't feel the same way," Rukia said as she smiled sweetly, "I love you too Ichigo."

Upon uttering the words that she'd felt since he'd rescued her from certain death atop Soukyoku Hill, risking his life to save hers, Rukia slowly leaned forward and shared her first kiss with the orange haired idiot that she loved.

When their first romantic kiss broke apart Ichigo sat on the bed with Rukia and protectively pulled her into his strong chest.

"I will always protect you Rukia," Ichigo said as he wrapped his arms around the dark haired midget that he'd come to love so deeply.

Those were the last words spoken between the two as Rukia feel asleep one more but this time wrapped safely in Ichigo's strong embrace feeling completely protected for the first time in ages. Ichigo simply shifted so that his back was against the pillows, allowing him a comfortable position from which to watch over Rukia's sleeping form.

'_I love her so much,' _Ichigo thought as he looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms, _'She means everything to me.'_

With that last thought, Ichigo drifted off to sleep with both arms still wrapped firmly around Rukia's slim waist; not bothering to think of the position his father would find them in when he burst into the room to perform his morning "attack Ichigo" ritual. He didn't care either as long as he was holding the woman who meant everything to him.

* * *

**Translations:**

**Gikongan- pill that is used to remove Ichigo's soul from his body**

**Shunpo- also known as flash stepping, used by soul reapers to move quickly from place to place and also as a weapon in battle**

******Reiatsu- spirit power **

**Muerte- the name of the hollow's zanpakto, also in spanish, and literally means "death"**

**Zangetsu- Ichigo's zanpakto**

**Tensa Zangetsu- Ichigo's bankai **

**Getsuga Tensho- Ichigo's powerful attack that literally means "moon-fang slices the heavens", is used in shikai and bankai.**

**(If you don't know what shikai and bankai are then you're helplessly lost people and you should go watch the anime a few times. -_-)**

**

* * *

****a/n: There yall go! Once again I'd like to say that this fic is dedicated to bleachfan 16. And hey, I'm always up for a challenge so tell me your favorite pairing and I'd be happy to write you a oneshot as well. ^.^ Of course reviewing my other stories is a big help as well and is very much appreciated! Neways, yall please tell me what yall think and if my first Ichi/Ruki fic was absolutely horrible or what.**

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!**


End file.
